San Diego Disembarkation

[AfriCan]

I have searched the older threads but have been unable to come up with the answer to this question.

 

When we take a repositioning cruise from Vancouver to San Diego this coming September, we will be docking in San Francisco and Catalina Island before arriving in San Diego. Do we go through immigration in each of these ports? Particularly, will immigration be required in San Diego on arrival?

 

I need to figure out how much time to allow for disembarkation if we need to board a flight back to Vancouver the same day. I understand that immigration can be quite slow in SD (if applicable), and will not be booking any flight departing before noon, at the earliest. Travelling on Canadian passports.

[PathfinderEss]

I have searched the older threads but have been unable to come up with the answer to this question.

 

When we take a repositioning cruise from Vancouver to San Diego this coming September, we will be docking in San Francisco and Catalina Island before arriving in San Diego. Do we go through immigration in each of these ports? NO

Particularly, will immigration be required in San Diego on arrival?

YES, you just hand the US immigration person your declaration form and walk out the door. Easy pies.

I need to figure out how much time to allow for disembarkation if we need to board a flight back to Vancouver the same day. I understand that immigration can be quite slow in SD (if applicable), and will not be booking any flight departing before noon, at the earliest. Travelling on Canadian passports.

 

Yes, you should not book a flight out of SD before noon, as you never know how long it will take to clear the ship.

[superoma]

I took the liberty of clipping the following section out of the live from of Bill and Mary Ann. they recently disembarked in San Diego and this is what they said before disembarkation.

 

The most important thing is that everyone needs to attend the Border Protection Inspection beginning at 7am. All the non-US citizens will be seen on the ship, while the US citizens will be checked in the cruise terminal. Once that is done, if everyone co-operates, then disembarkation should begin by 9:30am. A few years ago, some passengers did not respond to the urgent calls to see the officials, thus delaying the departure of guests who had early flights. Very frustrating when you are waiting to leave. It has been mentioned that there should be a fine for not responding as required, but so far, it has not happened. We simply hope that the message for this inspection has been delivered so everyone can understand the importance.

 

There were delays on disembarkation day because, again, some non US citizens did not report on the ship. So, I wouldn't book a flight before 2 pm. Maybe it will go OK for you but you never know. They didn't disembark until 9:45 or so.

[igraf]

So much gloom and doom.

 

It is perfectly normal to plan on disembarking a cruise ship ~9:30am. In fact, it would be foolish to count on an earlier disembarkation time anywhere in the world. We were off the Veendam in San Diego last March aound 9am, and it was that late only because we were lounging around letting the crowd thin out as we are local residents.

 

San Diego has a few pluses to consider. The airport is less than two miles from the cruise port, so you get back 30 minutes to an hour compared to many other ports. Also, the HAL ship is likely to be small and the only one in port.

 

I would have no problem scheduling a return flight home at noon following a Pacific Coastal cruise to San Diego.

 

igraf

San Diego, CA

 

 

 

 

I took the liberty of clipping the following section out of the live from of Bill and Mary Ann. they recently disembarked in San Diego and this is what they said before disembarkation.

 

The most important thing is that everyone needs to attend the Border Protection Inspection beginning at 7am. All the non-US citizens will be seen on the ship, while the US citizens will be checked in the cruise terminal. Once that is done, if everyone co-operates, then disembarkation should begin by 9:30am. A few years ago, some passengers did not respond to the urgent calls to see the officials, thus delaying the departure of guests who had early flights. Very frustrating when you are waiting to leave. It has been mentioned that there should be a fine for not responding as required, but so far, it has not happened. We simply hope that the message for this inspection has been delivered so everyone can understand the importance.

 

There were delays on disembarkation day because, again, some non US citizens did not report on the ship. So, I wouldn't book a flight before 2 pm. Maybe it will go OK for you but you never know. They didn't disembark until 9:45 or so.

Edited May 21, 2014 by igraf

[RuthC]

The difference between your prospective cruise, and Bill & Mary Ann's, is that they weren't coming in from a US port; you will be.

 

You will clear Immigration in San Francisco, and won't need to clear it again. Put your passport away until you get to the airport. You will have to clear Customs in San Diego, which is basically complete a form, and turn it in as you leave the terminal. You hardly have to break stride.

[barante]

We just returned from a HAL Amsterdam Central America cruise, 20 days from FLL to San Diego (after Mexico) and then on to Astoria and Vancouver. The ship's processing was the most disgusting experience I have ever had. Not because we were disembarking in San Diego and worried about flights but because we wanted to have some time to see that delightful city.

 

We were finally cleared around 10 a.m., when disembarking began.

 

The reason was the failure of a number of required passengers to show up with their passports. Something like this was experienced also in Vancouver.

[Shmoo here]

We just returned from a HAL Amsterdam Central America cruise, 20 days from FLL to San Diego (after Mexico) and then on to Astoria and Vancouver. The ship's processing was the most disgusting experience I have ever had. Not because we were disembarking in San Diego and worried about flights but because we wanted to have some time to see that delightful city.

 

We were finally cleared around 10 a.m., when disembarking began.

 

The reason was the failure of a number of required passengers to show up with their passports. Something like this was experienced also in Vancouver.

 

Exactly what happened to us on our Boston/San Diego Panama Canal. Paging for missing non-US passengers to report for inspection went on for at least an hour. We were finally off the ship after 10:00.

[Stratheden]

Exactly what happened to us on our Boston/San Diego Panama Canal. Paging for missing non-US passengers to report for inspection went on for at least an hour. We were finally off the ship after 10:00.

 

So far we have only cruised Alaska 7 days from Vancouver return so I have not experienced what happens in San Diego. If we were continuing on from San Diego and not getting off the boat for a tour of San Diego (been there) would we still have to report for inspection?

 

Just trying to work out why passengers may not understand that they had to report.

[Shmoo here]

So far we have only cruised Alaska 7 days from Vancouver return so I have not experienced what happens in San Diego. If we were continuing on from San Diego and not getting off the boat for a tour of San Diego (been there) would we still have to report for inspection?

 

Just trying to work out why passengers may not understand that they had to report.

 

I don't know all the ins and outs of the process. All I know is on disembarkation day all non US citizens had to report to the main theater early in the morning for "inspection" before the ship would be cleared for everyone to disembark. They started the process while the ship was still in the harbor, before she was tied up.

[CruiserBruce]

 

It is perfectly normal to plan on disembarking a cruise ship ~9:30am. In fact, it would be foolish to count on an earlier disembarkation time anywhere in the world. We were off the Veendam in San Diego last March aound 9am, and it was that late only because we were lounging around letting the crowd thin out as we are local residents.

 

 

 

igraf

San Diego, CA

 

Not sure where this comes from. In 16 different disembarking ports we have experienced, San Diego is the only one we have ever had to worry about not being able to get off before 8am, assuming a 7ish arrival. San Diego has a horrible history of slow I&C clearances, far worse than any of those other 15 ports we have experienced.

Edited May 22, 2014 by CruiserBruce

[Lizzie68]

We just returned from a HAL Amsterdam Central America cruise, 20 days from FLL to San Diego (after Mexico) and then on to Astoria and Vancouver. The ship's processing was the most disgusting experience I have ever had. Not because we were disembarking in San Diego and worried about flights but because we wanted to have some time to see that delightful city.

 

We were finally cleared around 10 a.m., when disembarking began.

 

The reason was the failure of a number of required passengers to show up with their passports. Something like this was experienced also in Vancouver.

 

I don't understand - why would you have to clear US Immigration on the ship in Vancouver? If you are leaving the ship in Vancouver, you go through Canada customs. When you embark in Vancouver you go through US C&I, I have been told by my TA.

[reefisher]

My wife and I did a cruise from Vancouver to San Diego on the Celebrity Millenium with a two day stop in San Francisco as our first US entry. We cleared immigration in SF. It was incredibly disorganized. The bottom line as far as your question, the disembarkation in San Diego went smoothly. I have disembarked many many times in San Diego when it was the first US port on the return and every time is was bad and late. It seems like they want to piss you off. However in this case with the emigration in SF, they pissed us of but not San Diego. I guess they share the wealth.

[Island Lovers]

You should be fine with a flight after 12:30 pm. We have cruised many times to/from San Diego. It is a really lovely port, and often you're the only cruise ship there. If you have time, spend a night before flying back and enjoy a walk along the embarcadero to Seaport Village or up to Horton Plaza or Balboa Park. On our return to San Diego from a cruise in January, we stayed a night, and then we were held up in security at the airport for about one hour when flying back to B.C. the following day. We find flying back the day after a cruise reduces stress. Going straight from the port to the airport is stressful, and so much is beyond our control regarding timing. We like to weigh and sort our suitcases at a hotel before flying too rather than try to worry about all of this the last night of the cruise. That's JMO.

[nana51]

So much gloom and doom.

 

It is perfectly normal to plan on disembarking a cruise ship ~9:30am. In fact, it would be foolish to count on an earlier disembarkation time anywhere in the world. We were off the Veendam in San Diego last March aound 9am, and it was that late only because we were lounging around letting the crowd thin out as we are local residents.

 

San Diego has a few pluses to consider. The airport is less than two miles from the cruise port, so you get back 30 minutes to an hour compared to many other ports. Also, the HAL ship is likely to be small and the only one in port.

 

I would have no problem scheduling a return flight home at noon following a Pacific Coastal cruise to San Diego.

 

igraf

San Diego, CA

 

I agree. I have never been off later than 9:00. Why would you want to leave our beautiful city any earlier.:)

[AfriCan]

Thank you for all the knowledgable replies. Seems we should be fine with a 12.40 flight back to Vancouver. The previous time we did a repositioning cruise, we spent a few days afterwards sightseeing, which was absolutely delightful. Unfortunately this time round, we don't have the luxury of an extra few days, but will definitely plan it into our next visit. Glad to hear we will be clearing immigration earlier in the sailing.

[CaveDiving]

....If we were continuing on from San Diego and not getting off the boat for a tour of San Diego (been there) would we still have to report for inspection?....

 

Exactly what part of “All non-US citizens must be seen on the ship.” do you not understand?

 

Scott & Karen

[igraf]

Just to be clear, one should never book a return flight based on the expectation that they will be off the ship before 9:30 am in any port. Many times one does get off the ship at an earlier time, but just don't ever count on it.

 

If you are aware that San Diego requires more time, then plan accordingly. In our case we had a leisurely last breakfast in the MDR on the Veendam. I have no desire to be in the rush with the early disembarkation crowd as I have seen these passengers yelling at each other on some cruises. What an ugly way to end the trip.

 

igraf

 

 

 

 

 

Not sure where this comes from. In 16 different disembarking ports we have experienced, San Diego is the only one we have ever had to worry about not being able to get off before 8am, assuming a 7ish arrival. San Diego has a horrible history of slow I&C clearances, far worse than any of those other 15 ports we have experienced.

[barante]

I don't understand - why would you have to clear US Immigration on the ship in Vancouver? If you are leaving the ship in Vancouver' date=' you go through Canada customs. When you embark in Vancouver you go through US C&I, I have been told by my TA.[/quote']

 

HAL never made it clear that all passengers in San Diego had to present themselves with their passports at an inspection on the Amsterdam, regardless of whether they intended to go ashore or not. At that inspection, all passports were stamped, including U.S. ones.

 

In Vancouver, the same same.

 

When we departed Vancouver for our disembarkation port of Seattle, U.S. border inspection took place in Vancouver where a full complement of U.S. guards were stationed and examined and stamped everyone's travel documents. As a result, we were off the bost shortly after 8 a.m. in Seattle.

[take us away]

We once had a 11:30 am flight out of San Diego after a cruise. San Diego was the 1st US port so we had the whole enchilada of customs and immigration. Easily made the flight but had 1st class tickets so we were able to go through a very short line for TSA. People without 1st class tickets just barely made the flight with lots of panting - not a great way to end a wonderfully relaxing cruise. Recommend a later flight or even staying over one extra day and leisurely touring the city (the train is wonderful and cheap - remember something like $5 for an all day pass. Had lunch in the old city and took the train almost to Mexico - because it was there).

Edited May 25, 2014 by take us away

[Stratheden]

Exactly what part of “All non-US citizens must be seen on the ship.” do you not understand?

 

Scott & Karen

 

Thank you. Most informative.

Edited May 25, 2014 by Stratheden

[PathfinderEss]

Just to point out how some people don't read or listen to what others tell them. We recently disembarked in Vancouver and took a bus ride down to Seattle, which we have done many times. They tell you if you take this bus ride down to Seattle, you cannot book a flight before 3 pm. Well we had this couple on the bus that started complaining they were going to be late catching their plane. Now it was only 1:30 pm, so we all ask didn't they read the paper work for doing this bus ride, where it said not to book a flight before 3 pm? Silent's, no answer. So who's to blame.........